here. it is the arrangement. -- derangement. host: why is the profanity not as bad as the lying? caller: he said i can grab women's genitals. that is terrible for us. i am a grown man. as long as the children do not hear it. we know he is a sick man. people believe his lies. he says there is no russia hoax. the first page of the mueller investigation says the russians helped donald trump and harm to hillary clinton! host: we have to leave it there. thank you all for participating this morning. another edition of "washington journal" comes your way tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. "ceasefire" is next. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

dasha: welcome to "ceasefire" where we seek to bridge the divide in american politics. i am dasha burns white house bureau chief in the sphere of the holidays we are taking a look back at some of our favorite bipartisan moments so far this season. we start with a look back at the first ever episode of "ceasefire." i was joined by vice president mike pence and former obama chief of staff robbie manual. despite their -- rahm emanuel. the to have a friendship that started when their offices were located close to each other during their time in congress and the 2000'-- in the 2000's. >> indiana is famous for a lot of things. popcorn is one of them. as a congressman i had a popcorn machine. in the lobby of my office. and my staff frequently saw congressman rahm emanuel come down for a bag. he was. always welcome.

>> i want to be clear this was a bag of pop popcorn. dasha: let's be very clear. this is not chicago. you would go and get some popcorn? >> you hit the lottery when you get an office park, maybe they wanted adult supervision for me but i would get popcorn. mike and i, the bell would ring and we would walk and vote together and that is how we got to know each other very well. dasha: it was divided congress, familiar to people right now but do you think at that time it was a little bit less taboo to work across the aisle, or was it hard back then, too? >> well, i think, one of the best cap secrets in america is that most of the people that are elected to congress actually come there to do the job. to make progress, to advance an agenda and rahm and i had different agendas and different policy prescriptions, but i think we are living in a time when a lot of the rewards go to what i think is more performance

art. dasha: the incentive structure. >> than policy. the thing i appreciated about rahm, as well we differed particularly after the he led the charge for democrats to defeat the republican majority in 2006. >> 20 years later you got over it. >> still too soon. we won it back. dasha: getting some ptsd here? >> i will say this about rahm, that he was one of those people that when he told you that his conference was going to do something they did. that's the way, you know, democracy depends on heavy doses of civility. and maintaining the ability to find things that we can agree on. begins with civility and it was a different time back then. dasha: what did civility look like for you back then? >> i don't want to speak for the republicans or for mike on this

issue. everybody knew when i took over, the campaign to the house, that was my job, it did not mean that when we were in the halls and committees we were not going to work together. it did not mean that. we do have different agendas. mike and i saw each of the pre-first and we all we do. he gives me a rundown on my kids and i give him around on my kids. he has a son and son-in-law in the armed forces. i have kids in the armed forces, same branch and we check in on each other like that. dasha: parents before partisans? >> without a doubt. i was tease him about this. he owes my son $10 from a bet. he has never paid, but here's the thing. dasha: this exactly what this table is four, fork it over. >> i want a 6% interest, not 2%. seriously, we disagreed on things, but we didn't see this as braveheart hunger games, we

were going to try to kill each other. now i do think, and i kind of, i'm resistant of this, but because i do not think blaming social media for everything means you absolve yourself of any judgment or responsibility but social media has forced people into ideological -- the fundraising apparatus exacerbates that. one of my first bill was the great lake restoration act to restore funding for that great lakes. all of the members of congress, from the midwest signed on to it. and i'm chair of the dccc. it is president bush that signs it into law. >> i want to clear up the whole bet thing. >> $10. >> it was 2008, president obama was running and rahm, his kids do not fall too far from the tree, as we say in indiana. i ran into, months before the election and he was sounding off

about president obama's chances, candidate obama. his son looked at me defiantly and said, we're going to win indiana. >> defiantly. >> nobody one indiana since jfk. on the democrat side. i lost the bet. >> zacharias job at the age of 10 was to collate the polling in chicago. dasha: he started young, my friend. >> this was his choice. he would get the train, etc. and he sees congressman pence and he says, you, sunder obama will win. i'll bet you. he goes $10. every time i see him, i.t. sam. with interest, compounded interest. dasha: that will be hanging over your head forever. >> apart from national security i would say foreign policy. rahm and i are going to differ on core issues. i'm pro-life and i do not

apologized for it. in terms of size and scope of government, rahm and his party have supported solutions that i consider big government solutions, expansions of the welfare state. but where i want to commend him is i am grateful for the role you played as ambassador to japan. i think one of the accomplishments of our administration was that we change the national consensus on china. and up to that time, there were differing opinions about the approach to china. our administration took a strong stance saying we're going to end this era of trade abuses in international -- intellectual property theft, human rights abuses and i will say that our ambassador to japan was one of the most clarion voices in the asia-pacific calling out china

unapologetically. i said that publicly i say it again today. i'm grateful for it. dasha: such a great pairing to kick off "ceasefire" history. after their interview, they met each other in the green room and the former vice president try to make good on his bet with his son, by giving him a $10 bill. emmanuel will tell pence he would have to give it to his son directly. i want to now look back at another friendship that started on the hill, florida congressman jared moscowitz and tim burchett became friends. here is the urgent story and how they celebrate holidays together. >> tim and i met on the floor through mutual friends. tim's someone who even when he disagrees, vehemently disagrees, tim makes friends across the eye with everyone. i would argue tim probably has more friends across the aisle than anyone else. yeah, he has been here longer.

because of longevity -- no, but i think that is the point, which as you can disagree without being disagreeable. you can still ask how is your family. you can ask me how are the kids, yet can go up to a member who is battling something and say how's it going? that's what tim does. and that is how we met. dasha: tim? >> jared, he's my guy. we don't agree on anything much politically but we are friends. you know, i remember when that jewish couple was assassinated, a young couple in washington, that was a wake-up call and i went to my leadership and i said, let's we need to make sure especially on -- our jewish members are protected. i love the jewish members reach out to me but jerry -- jared and i are buddies.

after charlie kirk got shot. jared was the first one to ask me. he is my buddy. we have been friends as he got to congress pretty action took me to lunch one day. dasha: breaking bread with the other side. >> i'm from tennessee. back when i was in the legislature we always, re-reached across the aisle. raise the speed limit with steve cohen and i daresay we do not agree on anything pretty called my mama when my dad died. we have been friends ever since we were in the legislature. jared is no different. we talked, we call each other. he is my santa claus. dasha: i want to put something up on your screen have you guys explain this to me. >> i am not the baby. that's not me. >> is that luna/s 's> dasha: and that is quite a beard you got there. >> one of the candles. >> that is a menorah. i'm sorry. >> there is only one way to spell it. >> jared, he's jewish, and i've

tried to be a christian. i was on some national tv show -- don't you realize that jared is jewish. my dad is jewish. i can't my santa claus be jewish? >> i was santa claus att tim's 50 minute christmas party through cnn. >> i walk through the hallways two dadgum poodles. >> they are not my poodles. dasha: who's baby, whose poodles, whose beard? there are a lot of questions. >> i have a 15 minute christmas party. dasha: those are famous. >> you go to a christmas party and what happens? you sit there for three hours and maybe hanukkah party, i don't know. >> we have those, by the way. >> so, somebody corners you, somebody with bad breath and you have to listen to them for 30-45 minutes and i'm thinking after 15 minutes you've already got

all the conversation. we're going to do a 15 minute christmas party and then but last year we did 14 because we thought it dragged on too long. 15 minutes -- dasha: a costume for 15 minutes. >> 100%. >> he posed with pictures. people sat on his lap. >> if you're going to make me santa, that is a huge responsibility. >> steven spielberg call me afterwards and said can we have the film rights? >> a difference spielberg tim had kids there. these kids are coming up and sing i want to train for christmas. i am like 100% if you are a good boy. dasha: congressman santa will -- >> secretly finding the parents, you know he wants to train. dasha: i think, look, i think a lot of americans are watching this right now and thinking, this is not typical representation of congress.

most people look at washington and see people fighting. do you think this kind of relationship across the aisle is rare or more, than people realize? >> i think there are a lot of relationships -- not as many as they used to be, but i still think there are a lot of relationships but the problem is there is no incentive. they are not shows like this, right, that are incentivizing that relationship, the incentive on social media, the incentive on tv is only to fight. it is not to find common ground. by the way, you can fight and still be friendly. but that incentive system, you know, then you're not a fighter, you're giving up your principles. remember, if you call the other side the enemy or a traitor, how can you have friends? we've done this to ourselves because we have played along with the negative incentive system. >> he's an attorney, think he's

getting paid by the word, but '' ll make it simple. people are selling memberships. blacks and whites are fighting. jews and christians are fighting and muslims are fighting, it keeps the whole leadership and power in their role, sitting there laughing at us. and they are still getting their checks and we're beating the crap out of each other. >> for the record that was as many words as i said. dasha: they give us our first and hopefully not last "ceasefire" fist bump. we taped that episode in november and since then, congressman burchard has held another of his famous christmas parties. here is a look at the festivities during the 15 minute celebration. what says bipartisanship? more than this look backat our episode featuring two state leadersi, want to kevin stitt and maryland democratic governor westmore discussing some of the work they are doing across the aisle. >> first off i think it is

really good for americans to see that we don't always disagree, that we actually like each other. we can agree on some things. as governors, we have a unique perspective that we literally are trying to make our states and the best places to live, to work, to raise our families. we're focused on the economy. health care, infrastructure, education and i know governor moore is focused on making maryland the very best day. and i'm focused on making oklahoma the very best state. and that is the cool thing about governors. and sometimes washington, d.c. tries to divide us and this national politics, gets so messy. dasha: i see why you both did not want to come sit at the table and washington, d.c., and stayed safely in your states because right now the divisions in washington are pretty striking. governor moore, what has it been like working with governor stitt?

that looks like republicans and democrats might be able to get some stuff done together, just not in d.c. >> well, i have loved working with governor stitt. because an governor stitt, i know is someone who believes in the people of oklahoma and someone who believes that the best ideas and best practices can be found anywhere, both in democratic and republican states. and the only thing we are trying to do is just to make sure that each and every one of our states have the best chance of long-term prosperity and the best chance to make it the best livable place for the people in our state. and i think about it from my background, i know also from governor stitt's background, we do not come from this world of broken politics. we're the chief executives of our state. and for me, my background as i was an army officer, i lead soldiers in combat. and i never once asked my soldiers what is your political party? it never came up. and it is the same thing as governor. it is not something, i will

fight for anybody, whether they live in the eastern shore or western maryland, as long as they are maryland are, that is all i need to know. so that is the great thing about the work of governors. as we are going to fight for all of our people no matter their political affiliation because the work has got to get done and we have to be the ones to make sure that things get done. dasha: we also went back in time with the governors, showing a throwback moment from governor moore's younger days. i want to show it clip from then 27-year-old white house fellow westmore appearing on c-span's q&a with brian lamb in 2006. here is a treat. >> as you know, it has been written in your friends, about being, kid you about being mr. president. >> probably more so because i've been class president throughout that time. >> how many years? >> six years. >> regimental commander? >> one year. and, again, whether it be through politics, we'll see but

i know public service is something i'm devoted to. >> you know the famous picture of bill clinton in the rose garden with john kennedy one -- do you think of that when you are going around, when you're in these positions? do you look around the white house and say, this is pretty nice? >> i look around the white house and say, some really amazing men have walked through those walls and i'm -- have what those gates and am honored to be there. dasha: look at that fresh phrase, governor moore. >> h e's so young. oh, my goodness. dasha: wow. governor stitt -- can you believe at 27 years old? >> hey, you have to text me that picture. i cannot see it on my end, i can't wait to go back and watch this could dasha: we will send you a link to that. we love to dig into the c-span

archives and have some fun with our guests on "ceasefire." i want to highlight what might seem like an unlikely pairing. i asked the ladies about their former roles as party chairs and challenges they face. >> is a very thankless job. you know i was vice chair for a number of years. and i found myself as the vice chair being prepared to step up if the chair decided to do something else. in the case of tim kaine, who was the chair at the time, he decided to run for the united states senate. he was governor of virginia. and i had to step up for a few months. and then here comes the big, big convention. i'm in philadelphia, ready to start partying, and i get a call that debbie wasserman schultz, the congresswoman from the great state of florida, wanted to see me, i'm stepping down. i said why?

dasha: how many glasses of wine in were you? >> it was early in the morning, so i had a lot of caffeine in me. but it really was a turbulent moment in the democratic party. you might recall that the democratic party was, we had a very robust political season. and hillary and bernie went to the bitter end. and the centers before demanding changes to the entire -- the sanders people were demanding changes to the entire process and debbie decided enough was enough. so i stepped up again. and i had to serve for quite a few months. unlike the first round of being the chair of the party, this time i had to, not only step up but when hillary lost a donald trump i had to also begin the transition process. it was a tough period. dasha: what did your version of that look like? >> it was tough. i think for me coming from outside of d.c., being from michigan and coming in, i was

michigan party chair and then i took over after trump won in 2016, and i was here for seven years, which is the longest for anybody in our party. and there was a lot that happen. two impeachments, a russia investigation, append dedicat -- a pandemic. just getting my sea legs, the raising the money, getting to know people, it takes a lot of time and effort and it is a thankless job in a louder voice. >> very thankless. dasha: you both had a moment to take a step back. the dust has settled. we have had some distance from your tenure, from those turbulent election cycles. how have you seen your parties evolved over the last several years? >> there is no question the democratic party following the disaster of the 2020 four cycle, the democratic party is getting their sea legs back. recruiting new candidates. we are about to undergo a

generational shift within the party. dasha: we will dig into all that. >> not just at the national level but at the state and local levels which as you all know, you need the new energy, that new vision, that noose. of democracy that flourishes when new people are allowed in the door. i think the democratic party had to learn some valuable lessons over the last few months, and one, we have to be a 50 state party, 24/7. we cannot wait to the last minute to engage voters. we learned something from the republicans especially in the trump era, you have to find influences, fine people at the grassroots level. so i think the party is going to make a good come back in the 2026 and the 2028 elections which is wide open. and look forward to seeing this new generation floors. -- flourish. dasha: they have learned front democrats from donald trump. what have you seen in the republican party, there has been so much talk about trump's

influence but what have you seen in terms of the change since you left your post, and from my experience as a white house bureau chief, he and -- has changed a lot from his first time, the party has changed from his first time. >> i left in 2024. i lot of the things we learned were from obama, getting involved, getting in the ground game, making sure that we are knocking doors and engaging voters. and then expanding that. dasha: stealing secrets of the other one. >> a guide book. how do we get into communities, how do we engage voters? we are reaching out to latino and black and asian voters. this is an initiative i was proud of at the rnc. trump took even further by getting with the influences, understanding the young male vote. he understood that so wellin 2024. the changing wait come people that people are consuming news, getting engage in politics through tiktok and other mediums. but i think our parties have changed, too.

trump is a working-class present. the -- the suppers have become more democrat paid we've seen a flip and who is turning out and we will see what happens going forward. >> i learned something from the rnc. i think we should learn from each other and that was after the 2014 election, the rnc, 2012, did an autopsy and in that autopsy, they talked about how they had to build bridges. they cannot just rely on the coalition that had won previous elections and the republican party began to make investments. i, i went back to washington, i like to travel and i was in your beautiful great state of michigan. i'm like, the republicans are here in wayne county? they had -- >> that was when i was chair. in wayne county. >> in motown. i kept writing emails to tom perez and others, the republicans are making inroads.

it was incremental, but it was very important that they had strategic investments, people who could actually go door-to-door and talk to people about the alternative. and i think that is one of the reasons why donald trump was able to expand his electorate and expand his, you know, so-called strategic quotas. >> from the outside people see that expansion, the coalition and they feel like that happened overnight or happen just because the president is on to -- on truth social and has name recognition but those seeds have been planted for a long time. >> it is important to recognize it was intentional. we are community centers in detroit. we had them in in texas, in hispanic committees we were speaking spanish, the people we had working it. but we also did things off your, like formula drives are back to school drives, so we were part of the community. we had dance classes. we had dance classes, and some of them we had cooking nice.

but it also makes us better as a party. and i think this is for both of us because when you're in these communities and i will give an example -- our governor at the time was talking about skilled trades and one woman raised her head and said, your governors keep saying that, i cannot get to work. i cannot get a license in michigan right now. it is too expensive for me to get my permit. i was able to go back to my governor in a community where we had no republican representation and say, this is what i'm hearing in detroit. how do we represent people better? and part of it is by listening to them for yes, of course you want to get votes but we have to listen so we can govern better. dasha: donna, you talked about autopsies. i have a got a sense from the democratic party post 2024 that there's been a challenge to do that autopsy in a productive and united way. there has been a lot of finger-pointing but not a lot of coming together and acknowledging unity, what went

wrong, right? do you think there has been enough of an autopsy to learn those lessons you can take forward? >> i have read five autopsies. five. but they were not drafted or written by the democratic national committee. i think the committee will put out a report at the end of the year that will go into more detail about how they not only allocated resources, but pretty much, you know, when your party had the white house, which you had experienced before, the white house drive a lot of your politics, a lot of your resources. and a lot of the deployment of troops, i call them troops, but the deployment of volunteers and staff, and so forth. so, i think the dnc needs to conduct and finish of its research but by large what you've learned from all of the other lawyers, in the field, is that one, we waited too long to make the switch, as we call it

on the democratic, the switch when we switch from joe biden to kamala harris. second, we were not playing across the board. we limited our engagement to 6, 7 states, which is always a problem when you live in a country where you don't know where, which way the wind will blow. and i also believe we have to look to technology. and the algorithms and social media and using influencers. i think they will conclude, i'm not involved in this report, we had a lot of grass tops, but we missed the grass bottoms. the people actually drive politics, drive the conversation. and you know, i agree with the chairwoman. nowadays people do not want to just gather and talk politics for they want to talk about what is going on in the community, they want to talk about swimming classes, spinning classes, people gather in different ways. book clubs, for example. and we are learning that you can reach more people by not putting

your partisanship out there, but figuring out what brings people together in that community. dasha: before i let them go, we took them back in time to look at some of the moments in their political history before they rose to chairs of their parties. this is never before seen video. i will take you ladies down memory lane. we went into the c-span archives and found a 1993 interview with eleanor homes and chief of staff discussing her duties. >> at the beginning of the year, what i try to do is i asked my member, you know, to give me some idea of what she would like to accomplish this year. and, you know, the first year was easy because she was the first year she came into office, she had defined goals. basically the campaign goals for the second year, it was a little bit more difficult getting that information out of her. she had spent her first term in

congress, she was pretty successful, she won reelection by 85% of the vote, it was like, well we go. well, i knew that would be very hard if we allowed the office just a function without any defined goals. so, what we did as a staff as we sat down and said, ok here are some of the things we did not accomplish last time we were -- we would like to accomplish. we put it down on paper and give it to the member and that made the member focus. dasha: thick glasses and the shoulder pads for me. the earrings. >> well, and the hair. i used to have the thickest hair. when it started at gray, let it go. as a congressional i would focus and i would say we have to define goals. we need to tell the constituents, what are we going to focus on? we will improve constituent services. that year we had to work with the bush administration to

ensure the district had enough resources because we were running short of cash. we needed a larger federal payment. and then i started focusing the office on constituent services. that has kept her in office and hopefully crossing fingers in 2026, she will decide she is ready to retire. dasha: you look good. we dug in and we found a clip of you campaigning with laura bush. your uncle mitt romney in 2012. take a look. >> i want to say a couple things about this election. i know they have a saying in texas that says "don't mess with texas turco [laughter] i want to introduce ms. bush to a saying we have in michigan, "don't mess with the mitt." [laughter]

this is mitt romney's home state. this is where he was born and raised, where he fell in love, where his parents are buried. this will be the state that will put him over the edge and into the white house. >> my mic was going out. dasha: look at that spunk. >> a stay at home mom in michigan and i got on the campaign trail to help my uncle mitt and it was so nerve-racking. i did not know i would be on c-span. that propelled me to run for michigan chair. michigan is a winnable state for republicans. we did not do it for uncle mitt but we did it for donald trump. dasha: this is why i love the c-span archives. [laughter] thank you, ladies. a great conversation. they got pretty chummy despite their political differences.

let's turn to two current lawmakers who developed a friendship. utah republican senator john curtis and california democrat scott peters. i asked if there bipartisan relationship continues despite curtis moved to the senate. >> big shout out to my colleague. not only a good person but a good friend. maybe scott remembers where it started. i cannot pinpoint a specific moment. scott has always been really good on climate. i have aspired to be good from the republican perspective. maybe you can remember where it was. >> south america. dasha: is that trip the bipartisan friendship you developed, is it still lingering although you are in different places on the hill? >> senators are so hard to get to. they are very special.

i am confident when i see john that we will continue to be friends. i think john and i hit it off right away. although we are from different parties, would like to solve problems. one thing about john is he was a mayor of provo. we are used to having to work things out. you cannot make a speech and go home and it so you did your job. i think we are both oriented that way. he is a pretty likable guy. dasha: you both are seen as moderates in your parties. how hard is being a moderate within your own caucus right now? sen. curtis: let me beat up on the term moderate. a moderate in san francisco is different than a moderate in utah. could you just substitute that word with "normal." [laughter] i think we try to be normal.

we try to be like the people we represent. scott obviously does a fantastic job with that. we represent different people with different perspectives. part of that is being normal. dasha: the conversation tends to change a little bit what you get into the national sphere. congressman peters, what is the moderate democrat challenge when it comes to here in washington, when you are in d.c.? rep. peters: i come to be a problem solver. you cannot do that with one party. you need to get a majority in the house. you need 60 votes in the senate for just about anything. you will need both parties in almost any circumstance. if you are not willing to -- what is the solution? and then build the politics around that.

i do not think you will be successful in getting things done. that is why i come to congress and. . the first place it is not a great job if you live in san diego. dasha: i am from san diego myself. sometimes i question my life choices. [laughter] sen. peters: i miss it. for me, that will mean that people who are on the sidelines who are advocates will disagree with you and you have to get used to that. i tell my staff, if know what is grumbling we are not getting anything done because change upsets people. people did not send us your to make speeches. dasha: how much grumbling do you get from members of your own party when you try to be bipartisan? rep. peters: i have had two big battles. 1, i was an advocate of president obama's free-trade

arrangement, the trans-pacific partnership. there was not a majority of democrats that were for that. i saw it is a way for american businesses to get their products out to the world. i tried my best to explain it to people here but they were upset with me. i had protests at my office. i think the way tariffs are playing out now shows it was a pretty good way to go. also, when democrats had the house, the senate and the presidency -- the trifecta, like the republicans have now -- we did a provision on drug pricing. i did not like the way our party fashioned it in the beginning. i wanted to make a amendment. ni got hammered for that, too. protests at the office, people calling me all sorts of names, but we made the bill better.

all the democrats ran for reelection on the product we produced and i think i made a contribution. it is not like it is easy. dasha: despite the grumbles. rep. peters: political courage is just people yelling at you. we are not deployed overseas in battle. we just have to be willing to let people yell at us. as i say, you need to find those points where you have to talk back to your own people and that is where leadership starts. dasha: senator curtis, i want to play a moment from you on the floor from earlier this year. this is your first floor speech inmate. sen. curtis: i have said many times i want the president and the senate to be wildly successful. sometimes that desire requires us to be wildly honest. something that i think we will all agree we could use more of an washington, d.c. the way i see it, the odds of

congress delivering real results for the american people go up dramatically when we start telling each other the truth. not just behind closed doors but out in the open, where the public can see what i believe is the right to know. honest policy conversations on issues vital to the fundamental of our future matter more than ever. dasha: how is congress doing with honest policy conversation so far? sen. curtis: i want to give a shout to my colleague from san diego. a couple points you brought up to dr. one noticed. when people see people on the other side of the aisle take those positions, it builds credibility and make someone far more likely to reach out to them. scott has done a really good job with that. making a speech in the senate is a big deal. it puts down a marker. why did i bring up that in my main speech? i wanted the marker. i can point to some areas where

we are not being honest with the american people. i think that is what you get a lot of frustration. they are smart enough to know when we are being honest with them. i would love to be a part of that being turned around. dasha: up next, two lawmakers who both left office in 2021 to give an outside perspective on the future of their parties. let's take a look back at my conversation with doug jones and steve stivers. doug, you have some familiarity with being a democrat in a red state. do you think democrats should go into those places and pushing to connect with voters in these areas? >> absolutely. there is no question about that. that is one of the problems the party is suffering from right now. the party abandoned states in the midwest. i think we have to go back into that.

we have to get credible candidates. if you get a credible candidate you can make the candidate competitive. we have to go into those areas. look at what happened last tuesday in georgia alone. we had two down ballot races that slipped in which democrats beat incumbents -- and beat them badly. it was not a razor thin margin. they beat them badly. they flipped the first statewide office is the democrats have won in over 20 years. in mississippi you had legislative seats flipped to democrats. there is no longer a super majority in the mississippi legislature. when you go in and you could talk about issues, you can make some headway and quite frankly that is how it should have been all the time. we should not have all the gerrymandering going on. everybody should be competing for the votes of their voters and constituents, and not just taking them off or granted. dasha: president trump actually

cracked the door open on this idea that you can reach voters in some unexpected places. you see how well he did in places like new york city, new jersey and even in california. what you think republicans should take away from that? should other candidates beside trump try their hand at connecting with voters in places that are not deep red? mr. stivers: absolutely. majority parties are not built in deep red or blue districts. they are built in swing districts or different you can cross over that happen to be in the other party. that is how you build a majority and keep a majority. it is important for republicans that were in districts that kamala harris won to be talking to their voters. there are a bunch of those folks. there are a bunch of folks that are democrats in districts that trump won and republicans need

to go after those districts pretty hard, too. that is how you win majorities, by going after the swing districts and the other party's districts. you do not win by focusing on your base. dasha: this is new for democrats in this era of politics. go ahead. mr. stivers: democrats seem to be the coastal elites but only talk to each other. a two-party system is strong for our country. people need to have options and choices. dasha: how should democrats talk to voters in red states? what is your advice? mr. jones: it is fairly simple. it has been fascinating to listen to all the democrat pundits saying democrats in 2024, we did not talk about kitchen table issues. we did not talk about the facts and numbers behind the economy and people were hurting and they get higher wages, needed to

bring manufacturing in, needed health care for everyone who can afford it. need to get good, affordable health care for folks. we got away from the kitchen table issues that won me the election in alabama in 2017. now folks are beginning to see those are the issues that resonate. i know cultural issues have always played a role, particularly in the south. but at the end of the day -- it was funny talking to people, i reminded folks tip o'neill used to say all politics are local. that is still true even though there are national politics in it. at the end of the day, all politics or personal. that is where i think we can win in these races. in alabama, you will see competitive elections. coming up alabama, georgia -- not as much in mississippi -- but in florida, tennessee.

we will talk to people. we will talk about issues that are important to them because we know all politics are personal to them and their family -- not in a selfish way. it is personal to them and their communities. those are the issues i think democrats have to get back to in places like the south, midwest and others that have drifted away from the democrats over the last 20, 30 years. dasha: i have a feeling you remember the 2018 cycle pretty well. but is a lesson on the republicans had a trifecta in washington. the republicans lost the house that year. concerns about health care dominated the campaign cycle. what parallels can you draw heading into 2026, and what advice do you have? mr. stivers: health care was a big issue in the 2018 cycle. it may be an issue this year. i think the issue of 2026 will be affordability and

affordability of the american dream. it seems to be going that direction. i think republicans need to get back to those talking points when president trump was in that mcdonald's, he did the best job of the whole campaign on that one day of talking about affordability and how he would bring back affordability and the american dream. we need to stay focused on the things we need to do and deliver on those, and make sure we talk about them. it is a real issue. interest rates are starting to come down. hopefully we will see pricing continue to come down and they will have a lot to talk about. as senator jones said, there is a lot of green between now and. the elections. if republicans deliver unaffordability, i think they will be able to hold the house majority in the senate map does not look as bad as it originally looked like it might be because of some retirements, where we have winnable seats in places

like new hampshire. i think there are opportunities to expand the majority. dasha: the former senator and congressman shared no prior working relationship is still delivered on the "ceasefire" mission. nebraska republican don bacon in california democrat ro khanna. they served together on the house armed services committee and talked about the respectful relationship even when they disagree. >> we want to strengthen our relations with mexico. traveling with ro. we worked on some legislation. you will find areas we would agree and that is where you were together. we agree that tariffs are a tax on consumers. we have worked well together on that. >> i respected don bacon's

service to our country. he chairs the subcommittee on emerging technology. we have had a great relationship. he asks the smart questions. i said it is nice to be a member who knows what they are talking about. we have at areas of common ground. areas on tariffs. we have been opposed to this coffee tariffs. i think our joint bill made a difference. we have worked together in going to build a better relationship with mexico. dasha: that relationship can actually work and get things done. the armed services committee, is that more bipartisan than some of the others? rep. bacon: i have the chance to look at them to some degree.

it has been a great partnership. i cannot think of a thing we disagreed upon. it is not really a republican or democrat view. we have been a great team. dasha: lawmakers bonding over their work in congress. we love to see it. i want to move on to some close friends who come from opposite ideologies. conservative legal scholar robert george and former independent presidential candidate cornell west. they are co-authors. i asked him their advice for conversations during the holiday season and a very polarized time. >> we should commit ourselves to love injustice, not hatred and revenge. one of the things i have been able to experience with robert george is i love him when he is right, i love him when he is wrong and wrestling and his

struggle for truth. love cuts much deeper than finite opinions or political opinions. we have to begin with the deeper moral and spiritual starting point before we even get into the contentiousness of politics. that takes a lot of courage. i cannot do it by myself. i need some help and some grace. robert: so true. everything cornel said is absolutely true. let me remind our viewers not everything has to be about politics. that does not mean we have to shy away from political discussions. the ancient greeks had a concept that cornel is fond of. it is translated as frank's speech or plain speech. we need to talk plainly with each other including about points and politics, ethics or things i wish we disagreed but

not everything has to be about politics. where we judge each other exclusively on the basis of politics. when we're sitting around the thanksgiving table, christmas, hanukkah, whenever we have the family together, we do not have to lead with politics and differences of opinion. there are a lot of other things in our lives that we can talk about, we can share. points on which we agree or have shared commitments or shared relationships or devotions. let's begin by talking about those sorts of things. it is not mean we cannot talk about politics -- eventually we should want to get the points on which we disagree -- but let's remember we human beings are complex critters. dasha: i do notice the both of you happen to conveniently be able to avoid coming to washington to sit at this table with me.

i will give you the holidays as the excuse. [laughter] when you look at washington, whether it is the white house, congress or even the judicial branch, what is your advice for the people who are in politics, who are leaders in politics in washington? is there something with a go back to their family tables that they can bring back to d.c. to try to foster a less divisive environment? cornel: i think, 1, we have to recommit ourselves in a serious way to integrity. brother robbie says what he means. any means what he says he does not posture. he is not fake it, he is not phony. there is nothing fraudulent about what he says. most politicians these days, they have to check and see what the polls say before they give a sense of what their opinions are. the do not have integrity.

they are tied to money in the next election. you end up with a lack of character. character is destiny. what they meant was character is that which what endures. how do you hold onto who you are as you grow, develop. it is hard to find politicians like that in both parties. not just both parties but parties across the board. we have more than two in the country. dasha: robert, your advice for your friends in d.c.? robert: i have to say amen to what brother cornel said. it is a matter of integrity. doing to the best -- we are all fallible -- doing what is right. . one thing that is right is treating other people with dignity and respect, even if we disagree with them. even if we disagree on points that matter most to us.

our most cherished beliefs. even if we disagree with the way they lead their lives or the political party they belong to, we have to treat them with dignity and respect and recognize the our fellow human beings. profound, equal dignity. if we forget that we can quickly demonize each other. there is so much of that going on in politics. people need role models. this is not unique to the united states of america in 2025. for all of human history, for anything decent to happen people need role models. they need to see people doing it. we need more people like two former latest supreme court justices, ruth bader ginsburg and antonin scalia. they were people of profound conviction. ruth bader ginsburg had views. antonin scalia had views.

they were not shy about saying what those views were. they were blind to stand up and speak out and fight for what they believe in. so often what they believed and put them at odds politically, constitutionally and legally, yet they could be beloved friends, treating each other with respect. learning from each other, engaging each other in productive ways when they disagreed. we need more of that. you can think of ronald reagan and tip o'neill. a couple of guys on opposite sides of the political fence. reagan was president, tip o'neill was speaker of the house. two of the most powerful people in the world. despite their differences -- which they could fight over aggressively -- they respected each other, they honored each other, they befriended each other. there is no reason, even across the lines of ideological

division, the people cannot respect or even love each other. it is so important in families where there are disagreements. love each other, respect each other, honor each other as bearers of inherent equal dignity. dasha: last but not least i was joined one week ago by two senators who hit it off during orientation and have become close friends. pennsylvania democratic senator john fetterman and alabama republican senator katie britt talked about what brought them together. >> i walk in and there is a guide bigger than me. i felt petite. dasha: you found someone bigger than you? >> he is a gigantic man. [laughter] it turned out to be the nicest guy. truly. dasha: and that guy is? >> that guy is my husband. or better known as -- >> "the big unit." [laughter] >> john always puts it in a

trademark way. we have a text. he always trademarks it when he calls him the big unit. >> truly, they are lovely people. immediately during the orientation, we just kind of clicked and it grew from there. when i checked into walter reed, she visited me. that has been consistent over the last three years. we try to work together on a. personal level it reminds people that we do not all hate each other. we are favorite people. he will stop by my office. it is a very polarized time but

at least in this case -- >> john said it best. we walked into orientation and we immediately connected, both with wesley and john, even wesley and giselle. this whole thing, you walk into the united states senate and regardless of what you did before, there is so much to learn. when we got to our very first office, john and i were stuck in the basement together. >> that was part of my own doing. oh, my god, i am in a basement. dasha: i hope you have enjoyed this special edition of "ceasefire," where we try to stay true to our goal of bridging the political divide. that is all the time we have for this episode. happy holidays. join us next time as i sit down with joe manchin and kevin

mccarthy. a reminder -- "ceasefire" is also available as a podcast. find us and all the usual places. i am dasha burns. remember, whether or not you agree, keep talking and keep listening. ♪